Bookmarking after the Course and LMS Loose their Connection
Apr 24, 2018
As a requirement, we have to test that courses will bookmark when a timeout occurs and the course and LMS loose their connection. What should happen is that when the learner returns to the course they start at the point where the timeout occurred. Instead, what is happening with this course is that learners are forced to go back to the beginning of the course and lose all their progress.
We've tried putting LMSCommit(); functions on each page, at both the start of the timeline and on the Next button, but that doesn't help. We've gone into the Configure.js file and tried shortening the time in the "Forced_Commit_Time" variable to 1 minute and then 1 second (600 milliseconds). No luck. We've looked at it in the Debug window and it seems that the course is just spinning its wheels, calling the same functions from the LMS over and over again without getting a location it can attach to.
We are using a custom interface on this course. We are not using the Player frame or buttons. Could this be something that prevents bookmarking in an SSO timeout situation?
Has anyone dealt with a situation like this? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
3 Replies
Hi Peter,
What did you set the Resume behavior to in your course? Even if you're not using the Storyline player, that Resume setting will still be transmitted to your LMS to determine how the user should access the course on a subsequent visit.
If the LMS or connection times out, Storyline has preloaded content so a user may not notice it right away. One of the methods to help with that was further detailed here.
You also mentioned trying to modify the Force_Commit time, and our team is currently looking into an issue where the HTML5 output is sending a status to the LMS, even if the var FORCED_COMMIT_TIME = has been set from 60000 to 0. It sounds like you're seeing some odd behavior with the debug and status, and it may help for our Support team to take a look. You could also look at testing and comparing the behavior of your LMS to a site like SCORM Cloud.
Let me know if you reach out to our Support team, I'd be happy to follow along and share any updates here.
Hi Ashley,
Thank you for getting back to me. We are currently setting the Resume behavior to "Always resume", though that is more for testing purposes. When we're done we'll probably set it back to "Prompt to Resume".
Your method of warning a user that a timeout has occurred looks like it's worth a try and I will see how that goes. I've also seen some other methods for that. We're also seeing an issue now where even after the course times out, learners are able to complete the course. Of course, the LMS doesn't track them and they have to go back and start the course again. And another twist, this only happens about 1/2 the time. The rest of the time the course player caches a page after which the course locks up.
By the way, the course is output as Flash. We're using Storyline version 2.7, I know it's not even the latest version of SL2 but it's what we're allowed to use. I sent a message to the Support team a few days ago but have not heard back from them, unless you're them. I gather they are very busy. If you can help them connect with me, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thank you for your help. I'll let you know what happens.
Hi Peter,
Storyline 2 Update 7 is a tad bit older, have you asked your team about upgrading to the latest of Storyline 2 Update 12? It's definitely worth it, as there have been a number of fixes.
I found your support case and it looks like you're working with Chino now - so I'll follow along in that too!
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